Euro Weekly News - Costa de Almeria 4 - 10 February 2016 Issue 1596

CARNAVAL has arrived and the streets of Mojacar will be burst-ing with life as the joyful festivities fill the town with colour fromFebruary 5 to February 12. The towns smallest residents willkick off the celebrations as hundreds of local schoolchildren par-take in a fun and vibrant parade from the Bartolome Flores Pri-mary School to the town hall.

ISSUE NO. 1555 // 23 - 29 APRIL 2015ISSUE NO. 1596 4 - 10 February 2016 WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COMCOSTA DE ALMERA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION

A PAIR of high school students from Albox and El Elido set offon an experience of a lifetime this week. Isabel and Eusebiowere chosen to take part in a volunteer project in the city ofKlodska, Poland as part of the ESV (European voluntary ser-vice) initiative.

A YOUNG child was rescued af-ter neighbours spotted her climb-ing over a balcony of a flat in Al-box. The young girl, said to be ofAsian origin and home alone,

was clinging to the railings on thethird floor of the building. A se-curity guard from a shoppingcentre and the officers rescuedthe child.

Rescued from balconyChild in danger when left home alone

Trip to Poland for high school students

Experience of a lifetime

End of an era Fun and festivities for all the familyMojacar Carnaval beginsSee page 2

POLITICAL opposition partiesin Mojacar have lodged an offi-cial complaint against the newso-called public behaviour by-law. The law was announced

by Mojacar Council last monthand included restrictions onanyone wearing swimwearaway from the beach or swim-ming pool.

Ban on restrictions may hurt tourism

Complaint against by-law

GREAT Train Robber dies at Mojacar home

The so-called mastermind ofthe Great Train Robbery diedthis week aged 86, at his homein Mojacar surrounded by hisfamily.

Douglas Gordon Goody, wasone of the last surviving mem-bers of the infamous gang whorobbed a Glasgow-bound RoyalMail train in 1963, making offwith 2.6 million in cash (theequivalent of 50 million or al-most 66 million today).

Of Northern Irish descent,Goody grew up in South Lon-don where he became a mem-ber of the South West Gangwhich included fellow trainrobber Ronnie Biggs.

Said to have been the instiga-tor of the plan, Goody was 33at the time of the robbery inLeburn, Buckinghamshire.

Goody evaded arrest for al-most three months until he wasfinally captured at a hotel inLeicestershire.

Sentenced to 35 years inprison, he served 12 years ofthe sentence, shortly afterwhich he retired to Spain wherehe met his long-term partnerMaria.

Goody owned and ran theKontiki bar on Mojacar playaduring the 1980s and soon be-came a popular member of thecommunity.

Despite being pressed for in-formation, he only broke his si-lence some 30 years later, giv-ing rare interviews in 2013.

During the interviews, hesaid his one regret was the ca-reer-ending injuries sustained

by the train driver, Jack Mills,who was beaten over the headwith an iron bar.

Goody suffered from em-physema for a number ofyears and recently cut a frailfigure with his oxygen tank athis side.

Mojacar residents whoknew him posted messagesof respect on social mediachannels.

By Adele Land

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CYCLISTS in Almeria face fines for using headphones undernew legislation planned by the council which will also banthe use of mobile phones, and riding under the influence ofdrugs, including alcohol. Hoping to reduce accidents, theregime will also restrict bicycles amid large gatherings ofpedestrians.

CARNAVAL has arrived and the streets ofMojacar will be bursting with life as thejoyful festivities fill the town with colourfrom February 5 to February 12.

The towns smallest residents will kickoff the celebrations as hundreds of localschoolchildren partake in a fun and vibrantparade from the Bartolome Flores PrimarySchool to the town hall.

Saturday February 6 will feature a cos-tume party, which will be followed by thehanding out of assorted prizes for the party-goers with the most imaginative and origi-nal costumes.

On Sunday February 7 there will be ahuge parade, which will proceed from theRio Aguas roundabout, along the beach andall the way to the Commercial Park. Theparade will feature floats of all shapes andsizes.

The traditional Burial of the Sardine willtake place on Ash Wednesday. MojacarsMunicipal Music Band will pay tribute tothe buried fish while mournful guests snackon chocolate and churros.

The festivities will draw to a close onFebruary 12 with a chirigota competition inMojacar Multi-Use Centre. The free eventis a surefire bet for all those wishing to fin-ish off their Carnaval season with a bang.

NEWS4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.comEWN2

ACCORDING to the Loteriasy Apuestas del Estado, theState lottery, at least one luckylottery ticket with a prize of300,000 was sold in Velez-Rubio for the latest draw.

Anyone in the area who hasnot checked their ticket shouldlook out for number 19802and claim their share of theprize fund if they are luckyenough to hold that number.

Lucky ticket soldLOCAL NEWS Carnaval arrives to

streets of Mojacar Riding restrictions

ALMERIA Province wasshaken and stirred by a rum-bling magnitude 4.5 earth-quake on Sunday January31.

The epicentre was 10 kilo-

metres deep in the AlboranSea, but caused no signifi-cant damage.

This was one of 20 minorearthquakes that day echoingfrom the sea.

Aftershocks go on

TRADITIONAL Burial of the Sardine will take place on Ash Wednesday

COSTUME PARTY: Prize for the most imaginative and original.

By Sam Croft

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3NEWS 4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almerawww.euroweeklynews.com EWN

FEATURED NEWS

Just what exactly has theEU ever done for us? BREXIT factions pay tribute to Monty Python

SCRAMBLING to denounce Down-ing Streets praise of Cameronsprowess in negotiations with EC pres-ident Donald Tusk, the increasinglyfragmented Brexit factions risk beingcaricatured as an unintentionalhomage to the Judea Peoples Front inA Life of Brian.

So with the Romans already havingleft bronze-age Britain with irrigationand public baths, what exactly has theEU ever done for us?

Somewhat ironically, given the typ-ical charges levied against the union,the greatest benefits have been offer-ing some modicum of protectionagainst the unelected invisible mono-lith that is international capitalism.Basic benefits such as inexpensivewine, cheap flights, and a cap on mo-bile roaming charges, make an unseendaily difference to our modern lives.

Other developments include clean-er air, lead-free petrol, recycling, foodlabelling, hormone bans, price trans-parency, holiday entitlement, labourrights, equal pay, collaborative scien-tific research, diplomatic strength,

counter terrorism, police and militaryintelligence cooperation, humanrights legislation, and straight ba-nanas.

Of course Norway is not officiallyin the EU and undeniably enjoyingmany of the above benefits. It wouldbe ridiculous to suggest that, by leav-ing the EU, Britain would by defini-tion sell off all its assets to big fi-nance, enable 70-hour workingweeks, pollute the rivers and decapi-tate political antagonists at HerMajestys Pleasure.

The question revolves around polit-

ical philosophies. Many who are hap-py to remain in the EU radiate a cer-tain mistrust of the direction Britainwould take without the harness ofcollective regulations. They mightlook at the legacy of Thatcherism, thetight knit relationship between hedgefund management, government bu-reaucracy, media barons, the militaryindustrial complex, and consider a su-perior arbitrator in the peoples bestinterests.

Others, of course, might see the EUas an encroaching Trojan horse whichessentially embraces a neo-liberalagenda, yet cloaks motives in the in-spiring rhetoric of freedom andprogress. While others simply believeBritain should be entirely sovereignand have full control over borderpolicies and financial policies, givingfar too much credence to the power oftheir government with or without theEU.

The question isnt so much whathas the EU done for us? The realquestion is what kind of Britainwould emerge without it?

YOU can find out whether, andhow you can vote in the Brexit refer-endum by reading through this paper.

By Matthew Elliott

DAVID CAMERON: In negotiations with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.

4 is the number of matters

requiring change to allow David Cameron torecommend that Britainremains within the EU.

Baroness Brady

EVEN the beautiful game hasbeen caught up in the network ofBrexit propaganda with BaronessBrady entering the fray.

According to her, an exit fromthe EU would have a disastrouseffect on football, as it would befar more difficult for EU playersto obtain work permits. This ofcourse assumes that in the eventof an exit the government wouldnot take into account the moneythat English football brings intothe country.

AGAINST exit

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Referendums neversettle anything

former Conservative chancellor andsupporter of EU membership Kenneth

Clarke.

Quote of the Week

Readers Brian, Mike andMargaret discussed the storyat length on the EWN web-site, these being a few keypoints.

To join the discussion go to: http://www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/news/on-euro-weekly-news/uk-news/136726-what-has-the-eu-ever-done-for-us

Your papers,your views

Camp EuropeFOR all its faults, the ongoingEU project is an extremelyworthwhile ambition. Quitesimply we need it in order toretain and push forward theundoubted progress that hasbeen made since the end ofthe Second World War. Brian

Team BrexitIF the EU lasts much longerthan the British leaving, anagreement will be put in placeto cover many things. Citizensdata would continue to be ex-changed, trade deals wouldstill be made. The EU hasmore to lose if they put con-crete blocks up to the UK.Mike

On your bikeWE are entitled to live inSpain because we are Euro-pean Union citizens. Withoutit all Brits are aliens andwould not have the automaticright to live here, so 2.2 mil-lion of us would need to geton our bikes back to the UK.Margaret

Lasting legacyTHERE are millions of peo-ple that will live in the UK af-ter us. We cant ignore the fu-ture life and prospects for allthose people because we thinkwe would not be able to spenda few more years here in thesun. Mike

Britain-in-hidingIF we leave and let the Unioncollapse then wed better pre-pare to leave our comfortzone too, as our economyshrinks we expose ourselvesto Putins warlike intentionsand basically we withdraw,cowering, into our little rabbithole. Brian

Friends with moneyTHE British are a major con-tributor to the Spanish econo-my. Do you really think therewould not be some arrange-ment made to accommodatethat massive economic marketthat the British bring toSpain? Mike

IN an effort to increase the number ofGerman visitors to Almeria, an agreementwas signed by the Almeria ProvincialCouncil and the Tourism department ofthe Junta de Andalucia regional govern-ment on February 1.

It will include specific actions in orderto strengthen the number of visitors com-ing from Germany.

This is not the only initiative to be un-dertaken to generally promote Almeria asa tourist destination, but the focus on Ger-many is considered to be important forthe economy of the area.

Javier Aureliano Garcia of the AlmeriaCouncil stressed the importance of anagreement which includes specific actionsand said: The Provincial Tourism Ser-vice spends more than 2,000,000 toconsolidate and publicise the brand Costade Almeria, but that the contribution ofthe Andalucian government will help con-

siderably to expand the promotion.Among the activities to be covered by

the agreement to promote the brand Cos-ta de Almeria, will be attendance at im-

portant tourism fairs, promotion cam-paigns nationally and internationally, aswell as special familiarisation or presstrips.


INDEXNews 1 - 26

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Letters 50

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Homes & Gardens 66 - 67

Pets 68

Legally Speaking 70

Classifieds 73 - 75

Motoring 76 - 77

Sport 78 - 80

FOCUS on Germany is important for Almerias economy

AGREEMENT: Will promote the brand Costa de Almeria.

Encouraging moreGerman visitorsBy John Smith

Chart-topping fall in dole claimsCAUSE for cautious optimismemerged from the latest unem-ployment figures, as Almeriatopped the tables in Andaluciafor the biggest drop in thoseseeking the paro (dole) in 2015.

With a significant drop of43,300 people, AlmeriaProvince saw more than 20,000leave the list in the last quarteralone.

There are now 83,200 people

seeking employment benefits,which represents 25.13 per centof the population.

Of the 83,200 unemployed,40,200 are men and 43,000 arewomen.

The male unemployment ratestands at 21.59 per cent, 2.1points above the national aver-age, while the female ratestands at 29.67 per cent, 7.15points above the average.

A FAMOUS Almeria shoe de-signer is to open a branch ofthe long-established Madridbased Superior Fashion andBusiness School (ESME) inAlmeria on February 11.

Patricia Rosales has been anincredibly successful shoe de-signer, at one time reputed toregularly produce the most ex-pensive shoes in the world,and set up ESME in 2004when she was just 23, which atthe time was the first school ofits kind in Spain where stu-dents could learn about bothfashion and business.

Now, recalling her birth-place at the age of 35, she hasdecided to open a branch of

the school in Almeria whichwill teach all areas of fashiondesign, including weddinggowns and accompaniments,handbag and accessories, cre-ation of fashion brands andequally importantly how tomanage a fashion business.

In her opinion, too many de-

signers can produce greatlooking products but fail tomake any money from it.


Fashion school toopen a branchALL areas of design will be taught, including how to manage a business

By John Smith

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FASHION SCHOOL: To be opened by Patricia Rosales.

Too many de-signers fail to

make any money.

THE 19th Almeria Half Marathon is set to take place onFebruary 7, and it will feature more runners than ever be-fore. The marathon has consistently gained popularity yearafter year, and this time around 2,850 people are expectedto take part.

Almeria Mayor Ramon Fernandez-Pacheco said that themarathon is one of the most anticipated events on thecitys sports and social calendar. He expressed his extremesatisfaction at the degree to which Almeria residents haveembraced the annual race.

This year, in addition to the half marathon, there will bea lighter Nine Healthy Kilometres option, for those whofind the prospect of running 21 a little too daunting.

There will also be a childrens race which will be heldon February 6.

Half Marathon time again in Almeria

OFFICERS of the Guardia Civ-il in Vicar have reported thecase of a person to judicial au-thorities on January 28, whohas made a false claim of rob-bery presumably in order toclaim against insurance.

According to the so-calledvictim, they were mugged by aman and woman who suppos-edly stole a mobile phone val-ued at 460, 20 in cash andtheir DNI document.

When making the statementhowever the victim showedthe alert officers a DNI with adate prior to the robbery, whichgave them reason to doubt theveracity of the report and pre-sent the matter to the courts.

Insurancefalse claim

4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.comEWN6 NEWS

A MAN was injured when he lost control of his car on themotorway near Vera.

The 49-year-old had to be cut free from the vehicle byfiremen and was taken to hospital in Huercal-Overa suffer-ing from minor injuries.

JOHN DAVIES was theman behind Tar le tonTravel, an independenttour opera tor whichbrought holidaymakersto Mojacar and otherresor ts in AlmeriaProvince.

Many homeowners inMojacar will rememberusing the Tarleton bus,to travel to and from theairport.

The business later ex-panded into offering hol-idays worldwide.

Davies l ived in Mo-jacar with his wife Fan-ny, and their son Michaelhas a legal pract ice inthe town.

POLITICAL opposition partiesin Mojacar have lodged an of-ficial complaint against thenew so-called public behaviourby-law.

The law was announced byMojacar Council last month,and included restrictions onwearing swimwear away fromthe beach or swimming pool,and a ban on wearing fancy-dress costumes in publicstreets.

Socialist party (PSOE)leader, Manuel Zamora,lamented that the law wouldhave a negative impact ontourism and a knock-on effecton the towns economy.

He argued that stag and henparties bring income to the re-sort and they shouldnt be sin-gled out as troublemakers orvandals.

Somos Mojacars JessicaSimpson, said the law wasvery vague and open to vari-ous interpretations dependingon personal views.

Simpson added that the lawwas another nail in the coffinfor Mojacars tourist industry,

and compared it to the much-discussed anti-noise law,passed in 2014, which resultedin a group of girls allegedly be-ing fined some 4,200 follow-ing a complaint about noise.

Mojacar Council has not yetresponded to the complaint.

Mojacar independenttour operatorfounder diesONE of the much-loved residents diedlast weekend

Man rescued afterlosing control of car

By Adele Land

Opposition groupsby-law complaintTHERE are concerns over its effect on tourism in the area

FANCY DRESS: To be banned on Mojacar streets.

AFTER receiving a reportthat racing pigeons andequipment worth 890 hadbeen stolen from a farm-house on the Nijar boundary,a joint investigation waslaunched by officers of theGuardia Civil and Local Po-lice.

This was the second theftof its kind and as the firsthoming pigeons stolen hadnot managed to find theirway home, the suspiciousowner had affixed transmit-ters to his other pigeons, sothe officers were able to usea GPS service to track theirwhereabouts.

The transmitters indicatedthat they were in a local Ni-jar residence and when thepolice called at the address,they found the pigeons and

the missing equipment. Theythen searched a property ad-jacent to the residence andfound additional equipmentand more stolen pigeons.

The lucky pigeons havebeen returned to their right-ful owner and two men willbe facing bird of their ownwhen they appear in court.


By John Smith

Recovery of racingpigeons by police EQUIPMENT was found and more stolen pigeons ON January 28, officers of

the National Police raideda f la t in Almeria wherethey arrested two menaged 30 and 32 and seized228 marihuana plants, allof which were growing in-side the property.

When they entered theproperty, the off icersfound that the plants were

in various stages of devel-opment and the growershad fans, electr ic t rans-formers and light bulbs il-legally connected to thepublic electric network.

The house also had aroom used exclusively forselling drugs, where mari-huana and hash wereseized.

ON Sunday January 31, four people were injured in Cuevasde Almanzora as a consequence of the crash of two vehicleson the A-352 road. All the injured were taken to the Hospi-tal de la Inmaculada according to Andalucia Emergency Ser-vice 112.

In addition another accident occurred on A-7 in Almeriaresulting in two people being taken to Torrecardenas Hospi-tal and two being treated at the scene of the crash.

Eight injured in 2separate crashes

Drugs foundin Almeria flat

DoubletroubleTWO thieves have been ar-rested in one night in Alme-ria as officers apprehendedan 18 and 33-year-old inseparate incidents. Theyoungster was found rob-bing a van, while the otherman was stealing a bike.

New hope A NEW project launchedby the Spanish Red Crosshopes to reduce the num-ber of children expelledfrom school. The charityhopes to enhance pupilengagement in education.

Sky pilotVULNERABLE coastalzones will be monitored byaerial drones with laserscanners to study erosion inCostacabana, Almeria. Thetechnology will check engi-neering work, beach quali-ty and climate changes.

NEWS EXTRA

HOMING PIGEON: Now returned to its owners.

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A COLLABORATIVE initiative to provide fireprevention services throughout Almeria Provincehas fallen through, after the city and provincialcouncils haggled over costs.

The two official bodies had discussed the moveextensively and, after an initial concord, failed tofollow through.

The original idea was for the city council to

provide firefighters and services to all the townsof less than 20,000 residents in the province.

The controversy emerged after the initial esti-mation of costs generated a figure of 900,000,but the head of the fire department then calculatedan additional 650,000 for travel and special ser-vices expenses.

The city has now decided it wants a more ex-haustive financial report to determine the precisecosts involved.

A TECHNOLOGICAL development programme, pioneered bythe Almeria Chamber has helped dozens of small and mediumenterprises implement new solutions for the business needs.

The TIC Camaras programme identifies the key needs of abusiness and coordinates improvements with Feder fundingfrom the EU.

The objective is to improve the competitiveness of small andmedium-sized businesses, by enhancing their capabilities inelectronic commerce, web systems, online marketing and socialnetworks.

A BRITISH man has been ar-rested by Guardia Civil and re-manded for allegedly glassinganother man during a fight.

Emergency services attendedthe scene in a square in Par-taloa, the victim was rushed tohospital in Huercal-Overa hav-ing sustained a deep gash to theneck, where he remains in criti-cal condition.

By Matthew Elliott

Fire initiativefalls throughWARRING council factions cancel their agreement

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GUARDIA CIVIL officersfrom Garrucha have arrestedthree men in Mojacar pueblofor alleged possession oflarge quantities of marihua-

na plants.The men, aged 19, 24 and

26 and residents of Turre andMojacar were apprehendedfollowing a tip-off from aneighbour.

During a period of surveil-

lance on a property in thepueblo, the officers noticedthe windows of the housewere boarded up and fanswere running 24-hours-a-day.

A total of 103 marihuanaplants were seized from the

property, along with driedmarihuana and paraphernaliaused for cultivating theplants.

The men were detained andwill appear in court in Gar-rucha.

www.euroweeklynews.com NEWS4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de AlmeraEWN10

By Adele Land

WINDOWS of the house were boarded up and fans were running all day

MILD weather is an attraction

Three arrested in drug raidPro-cycling teamsbegin their winter training in Mojacar

DRUGS BUST: More than 100 plants were confiscated.

THE first of the winters cycling teams have begun toarrive in Mojacar.

For more than a decade, European cycling teams,including Rabobank, have chosen the town as theirtraining base between January and May.

Teams from Belgium and Holland choose the resort,citing the challenging and diverse routes in the areaand roads with little traffic as the main attractions aswell as the mild weather temperatures.

The main base for the teams is the Marina Playa ho-tel where a section of the garage has been converted toprovide a maintenance area for the cycles.

Illegal hunters caught Bar blaze underinvestigation AGENTS from Seprona, the flo-

ra and fauna protection branchof the Guardia Civil , arrestedthree men who were in posses-sion of illegal baits.

The men were apprehended inPurchena carrying five leg trapsand three balls of poisoned bait.

Leg traps are illegal due to thesuffering they cause the animalwhen it is caught, and the use ofpoisoned bait is also banned.

The poison was sent to a labo-ratory in Malaga for analysis andthe men will appear in court inPurchena.

FIREFIGHTERS were called to the scene of afire at a bar near Huercal-Overa.

The property, near the turn off to La Mena,sustained serious damage to most of the interiorbut nobody was injured.

An investigation is under way to establish thecause of the fire.

Your Belgian estate agent at the coast!Your Belg

THE president of the 23rdGeneral and Family Medi-cine Conference, which willtake place in Granada inMay, will be general practi-tioner Francisco Llave, whoworks in the emergencyarea of Almerias El Toyohospital.

With 3,000 health profes-sionals expected to attendthe conference and morethan 100 sessions planned,the conference is intendedto assist general practition-ers with their day to dayneeds, as wel l as updatethem with latest develop-ments.

Dr Llave confirmed when

the conference was announcedthat the medical activity istightly linked to the social ac-

tivity and the present day.Special attention is to be

paid to coping with chronic

diseases and there will beworkshops on training pro-fessionals in new methods.

PLANS are afoot to createa thematic route through-out Almanzora with the re-gions meat products theprime attraction.

The idea was mooted bythe Andalucian govern-ments culture and tourismrepresentative to the town,as part of a wider initiativeto promote gastronomicaltourism across southernSpain.

Ham would naturally bethe star of the show, whichwas inspired by the re-gions cuisine receiving anexcellent reception at atourism fair in Madrid.

The culture representa-tive also praised Almeriassuccess in attractingtourists last year, withroughly 1,253,000 visitingthe province, and said thatthe future holds even morepotential.


Evacuation after fire in Velez-Rubio

Medical conference MeatparadeWILL take place in May and Francisco Llave has been confirmed as the president

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: Around 3,000 are expected to attend.

By John Smith

Locked inAN operation saw an 82-year-old woman rescued byLocal Police and firemen inAlmeria, after being lockedin her house by her grand-son for two days withoutfood or water. She wasdeemed fine but her grand-son has not been found.

Marine areaTWO zones in Almeriahave been given environ-mental protection by theEU. The southern Seco deLos Olivos area, and theAlboran marine area nowhave the highest level ofprotection afforded inAndalucia.

Navy drillTHE Spanish Navy flexedits muscles in Almeriaport with a display of theMendez Nunez frigateduring its NATO drill .The huge vessel can hold200 people.

NEWS EXTRA

FOUR people had to be evacuated after afire in a residence in Velez-Rubio.

The fire occurred around 6.30am on Jan-uary 31 and firefighters, Guardia Civil, the

Local Police and Civil Protection all attend-ed the scene.

According to data from the Civil Protec-tion, the fire originated in the basement of

the building, which will now have to beevaluated by a technical team, who will as-sess whether it is appropriate or not for theresidents to return.

AGE SUPPORT in Arboleas is keen to ensurepensioners in the area are equipped with theknowledge they need to make life easier. Volun-teer Liz Carey has put together a number of use-ful fact sheets with information on handy hintsand tips.

This weeks subject is the Andalucia 65 card.The card gives access to services and dis-

counts in many ways. The card, known as the sesenta y cinco card

is available to residents over the age of 65 living

in any town in Andalucia. There are two different types of card and fur-

ther information can be found by contactingyour local town hall or on the Junta de Andalu-cia regional government website.

Benefits include reduced long-distance bustravel, discount on items such as hearing aidsand glasses, or special adaptions to your home.

Entrance to attractions such as the AlhambraPalace is offered at a discounted price to cardholders as well as cheap hotel accommodation.

For more information, visit www.juntadeandalucia.es and search for sesenta y cinco card.


By Adele Land

Discount card forlocal pensionersBENEFITS include discounts on hearing aids and glasses

A MAN was caught in theact of burgling a house inNijar.

Guardia Civil officers at-tended the house after be-

ing alerted by a neighbour,who allegedly had seen aman breaking into theproperty in the San Isidroneighbourhood.

A 20-year-old man wasarrested at the scene and isbelieved to be linked to astring of burglaries in thearea.

Nijar burglar is caught red- handed breaking into a house

SPEAKING up for local resi-dents, the mayor of Nijar, Es-peranza Perez, has denouncedthe claims by the sub-dele-gate of Almeria that fearsover the recent spate of rob-

beries in the municipality area little exaggerated.

She argued that minimisingsuffering is not the way for-ward, and pointed out thatthere is not a large enoughGuardia Civil presence tocover the needs of Nijar.

An aura of insecurity hasplagued the town, with resi-dents claiming three to fourrobberies per day are fuellingfear and anxiety.

Meetings are scheduled inthe near future to discuss thesituation and possible solu-tions, after roughly 600 peo-ple took to the streets inprotest. San Isidro is the epi-centre of the crime wave,which has lasted more than amonth.

Ms Perez has also calledfor a new Guardia Civil sta-tion in the locality to replacethe current one she describedas obsolete, referencing thefact that its facilities are de-signed for 1980s needs, andis far from equipped to dealwith an anticipated summerinflux of visitors.


A GOAT had a lucky escape after be-coming trapped in a hole amongstboulders near the Playa Macenas golfcourse in Mojacar.

Animal lover Sandra DArcy spottedthe distressed animal while out walk-ing her dogs, and posted a message onthe Mojacar Forum Facebook page.

Members quickly responded and lo-cal businessman and Equinac volun-teer, Alex Lawson and wife EuroWeekly News reporter Adele Land,dashed to the scene along with Ms

DArcy and her husband.After a long struggle they managed

to free the creature, who appeared a lit-tle battered and bruised but generallyin good shape.

With the help of local vet AstridSchroder, the owner of the goat was lo-cated and headed to the scene to attendto the animal.

Golf course goat isrescued from a hole

LUCKY ESCAPE: Goat was pulled free

relatively unharmed.

Crime in Nijar is exaggerated

A MAN has died following anaccident involving a tractor inHueral-Overa.

The 83-year-old farmer wascollecting olives in a field nearAvenida Jaen, when the tractorhe was driving tipped over ontohim.

Man dies

ZURGENA municipal gymis set to reopen this week af-ter undergoing some mod-ernisation.

Located in the Jardines deAlmanzora area of the town,the centre has a range ofmachines available includ-ing spinning bikes andtreadmills as well as chang-ing rooms, physiotherapyroom and a range of fitness

equipment.People can pay on a daily

basis or take out a monthlymembership from 25 permonth.

The gym wil l be openMonday to Friday from10am to 9pm and on Satur-days from 10am to 5pm.

Zurgena mayor, Luis Di-az, said he hoped the facilitywill help improve the healthand well-being of the townsresidents.


By Adele Land

Gym reopensto the publicCENTRE has a range of equipment

A WOMAN has died afterbeing hi t by a car in Al-box.

The 73-year-old wascrossing the street on Calle28 Febrero when she wasrun over.

She was rushed to hospi-tal in Huercal-Overa whereshe later died.

A man has been arrestedin connection with the in-cident and charged withreckless homicide.

Elderly woman dies

Bull schoolOPEN door speeches is aconcept organised by theAlmeria Municipal Bull-fight School where studentslearn about the world ofbullfighting. At the GuitarMuseum Antonio Torres onFebruary 5, 12, 19 and 26.

Next NadalAIMED at young begin-ners, Pechina will host aTennis Education Con-ference including afriendly competition.Taking place on March 5and 12, registration isopen until February 25.

All lit up AN UNHOLY alliance be-tween the regional govern-ment and an electricitycompany will seek to bringthe heavens to La Alcazabain Almeria, with a new illu-mination system in theworks for 2017 as part ofan Andalucia wide project.

NEWS EXTRA


A fistful of dollarsBOOMING business for Almeria hotels courtesy of films

INSCRIPTIONS discovered on a holocaust memorial monu-ment are being investigated by the Almeria Council whohave ordered the cleaning and restoration of the tribute inParque de las Almadrabillas. The site consists of 142columns and has been declared a Place of Historical Memo-ry by the Andalucian government. At least 20 of the columnswere found with Arabic writing scrawled on them.

Disrespect of site

HOTELS are reaping the benefits of Alme-rias second golden age as the province rein-forces its image as an ideal film productionset. Indeed, with a capacity rate of approach-ing 100 per cent, it is becoming difficult to

find a room in the capital even in February. The nearby Tabernas desert in particular is

proving a fertile ground for production crewsif not plants. Recent productions includePenny Dreadful, Game of Thrones, and As-sassins Creed, following the footsteps ofSergio Leones western classics.

By Matthew Elliott

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FILM SET: The Tabernas desert is proving a fertile ground for crews.

PATIENTS and rela-tives alike are delightedwith a new visiting sys-tem inaugurated at theTorrecardenas hospital.

As reported by theEuro Weekly News, avisitation system aimedat ensuring maximalcomfort and rest for pa-tients was recently ini-tiated and has alreadyseen rave reviews ac-cording to hospitalmanager Francisca An-ton.

It came about in re-sponse to patient re-quests that only twoguests be allowed perpatient in order to easevisitations and preventcongestion in the ward.The visit timetable willalso remain the sameand will not change inwinter and summer toprevent confusion.

Goodpractice


WITH nigh on 100 colleagues cheering heron, Isabel Fernandez Lao has been selected asnurse of the year in Almeria. The womanfrom Abla has worked in the Almeria Centroand Nueva Andalucia facilities and now livesin Aguadulce.

The married mother-of-three showed mod-esty in accepting her award, saying that, inher opinion, any nurse is worthy of such a ti-tle. She was praised for her daily work andthe enthusiasm she brought to the centre eachday.

Nurse ofthe Year

A FLYING pensioner who careered into thedeep blue sea at Almerimar beach, near ElEjido, after his plane suffered serious faultswill have the crash investigated by theGuardia Civil. The 84-year-old pilot swamout of the water himself and was found bypolice who took him to Poniente hospital fora medical test. The plane was reportedlyheading to Almeria airport from Murcia.

Plane crashpilot swimsashore

A WAVE of robberies hasstruck local Almeria taxi dri-vers with the scourge begin-ning last summer and continu-ing well into the new year.

The modus operandi sees

villains posing as customers,with one sitting behind the dri-ver and grabbing his neckwhile the other rummagesthrough his pockets, stealingmoney, valuables and docu-ments.

The majority of the inci-

dents have reportedly takenplace in the Torrecardenasneighbourhood and an emer-gency meeting has been calledbetween taxi drivers and LocalPolice to discuss how best toavoid being victimised by thebandits.

Highway to hellTAXI drivers are targeted in spate of robberies

By Matthew Elliot


GARRUCHA Council is inviting peopleto donate old or broken mobile phones toraise funds to help combat a rare child-hood disease.

Tays Sachs disease affects children un-der the age of four. It causes progressivedeterioration of the nerve cells, in mostcases eventually resulting in death.

The initiative was launched in collabo-ration with Almeria association ACTAYS.

Phones can be handed in at the publiclibrary.

MOJACARS extreme mountain bike event La Mojaquerais set to return in April.

The challenging course takes riders from Marina de laTorre, along the beachfront, up through La Parata and theSierra Cabrera, finishing near Mojacars football ground.

This year will be the sixth edition of the event and is ex-pected to attract top riders from across Spain.

A maximum of 500 riders can take part and informationcan be found at zonarfec.com.

DURING a visit to Tabernas, Rural Employment DevelopmentPlan delegate for Almeria, Guillermo Casquet, expressed hissatisfaction with the improvement works achieved so far.

The council itself has ploughed in the princely sum of392,000 in order to extend the cemetery, improve certaintown streets and childrens playgrounds and engage in cleaning,clearing, pruning, weeding and painting work.

WATER company, Galasa,will save some 300,000 ayear thanks to a new pipe-line funded by the provi-sional government. Theconnection to the pipelinewill significantly reduce op-erational costs for the com-pany and improve services.

New pipes

Rural reforms

Inscriptions open

Old phones can help infight against rare diseaseBy Adele Land

TAY SACHS disease affects children under the age of four

OLD PHONES: Can be handed into the public library.


THE British Ambassador Simon Manleythis week launched a major campaign tomake expats aware that they may be eligibleto have their say in the EU referendum, pro-vided they register to vote in good time.

Speaking at a meeting with representa-tives of the expat community to launch theregistration campaign, Mr Manley said: In-terest among expats in the EU referendumis high, but awareness that you may be ableto vote is low. We want as many expats aspossible to be aware that they can have theirsay.

Some 283,000 Britons are registered onthe padron as residents in Spain, but just11,000 are registered to vote in the UK. Sothe vast majority of expats will miss out onhaving their say in the referendum, unlessthey take a few simple steps.

To register as an overseas voter, you musthave been registered in a UK constituency

within the last 15 years. All you have to dois visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote withyour passport details and National Insur-ance number to hand, and the postcode ofwhere you last lived in the UK.

You can choose how you want to vote, bypost, by proxy (voting by appointing some-

one you trust to vote on your behalf), oreven in person if by chance you will be inyour UK local authority area on polling day.

All it takes is five minutes to register.And because overseas voters must allowenough t ime for their ballot paper to beposted from the UK, you should do it now

rather than wait for the final deadline, atwhich point i t may be too la te to use apostal vote effectively.

Postal ballot papers will be despatchedabout a month ahead of the referendum, ear-lier than for the General Election last year,giving overseas voters more time to receive,complete, and return their ballot pack to theUK.

Just as in the UK, you need to register an-nually. So if you registered as an overseasvoter for last years General Election, youneed to renew your registration for the EUvote.

The Embassy is urging Brits to pass onthe register to vote message via its Britsliving in Spain accounts on Facebook andTwitter, the expat media and a wide rangeof partners that work with the British Con-sulates in Spain.

You can find out more about the Registerto Vote campaign at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

THE railway project AVEAlmeria has continued itslacklustre epic of drawnout bureaucratic shambles,as work stopped yet againon the construction of thestretch between Pulpi andCuevas del Almanzora,and between Lucainena delas Torres and Almeriacapital.

Social unrest engulfedthe region as residents de-manded a 21st centurytrain system last year, anda contract for the workswas awarded in July.

Six months later, how-ever, the machines haveceased operating, and theworkers are hangingaround waiting on ordersfrom above.

It will be months, oreven years, before the bu-reaucratic rabbit hole be-gins to make sense and res-idents needs are put first.

The AVEnightmarecontinues

By Matthew Elliot

Expats may be eligible tovote in the EU ReferendumTHE British Embassy has launched a major awareness campaign

REGISTER TO VOTE: It must be done in good time.


ECOLOGISTS are pleading with the An-dalucian government not to proceed withthe construction of a bar in a protected areaof Monsul.

Friends of the Natural Park in Cabo deGata-Nijar say they have collected 80,000

signatures against the plans, and that an en-vironmental centre, not a bar, had previous-ly been agreed.

Monsul is one of the last unspoilt stretch-es of the Mediterranean and its peculiarecology, rich minerals, fossilised beachesand volcanic formations are deeply cher-ished across Europe.

A CULTURAL ex-change between Spainand Japan is the goalof a new project,which hopes to makeAlmeria the hub oflanguage immersioncourses and local dis-ciplines.

The JAPAES cultur-al centre will work intandem with Almeria-based Japanese com-pany Kanami. The organisers hopenot only to attractJapanese visitors, butto establish a fullyfledged cultural centrein Almeria devoted tocreating an academic,cultural and entrepre-neurial environmentfor people to explore.

JAPAES has beenrecognised in Japanfor its business initia-tive.

Orientexpress

By Matthew Elliot

Ecologists areagainst planDONT want construction to destroy Monsul habitat

CONSTRUCTION: Andalucian government has plans to build a bar.

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FEBRUARY is a busy monthfor the Albox branch of theRoyal British Legion, whichhas announced the followingline-up for the next fewweeks.

The coffee morning willtake place as usual at La Par-rilla in Albox on ThursdayFebruary 4. Pop along at

10.30am and have a drink anda chat with friends.

Dont forget to take any un-wanted gifts or good as newbric-a-brac items that can besold on the poppy stall, to raisemoney to help the RBL contin-ue to improve the lives of ser-vice people, veterans and theirfamilies.

On Sunday February 7 thebranch is holding a stall at thecar boot sale at El Teatro inPiedra Amarilla. The eventstarts at 10am.

Guest speaker at the meet-ing on Thursday February 18will be Lin Oldham, talkingabout her time in the WRENs.The meeting will start at 11am.

Royal British Legion, Alboxbranch February news

Spectrum FM in Almeria SPECTRUM FM Costa Almeria has announced that new state of the art transmitters and antennashave now been installed at all their transmission sites, improving quality of service for thousandsof listeners across Almeria and Costa Calida.

Richard Shanley of Spectrum FM said: This is great news for listeners and advertisers alike.We will now be reaching in excess of 2,700 square kilometres of our beautiful area.


MORE than a thousand students at schools inHuercal-Overa took part in a peace rally to markthe day of non-violence and peace in schools.

The day is celebrated across Spain every yearon the closest school day to January 30.

The children held a minutes silence and 12

doves of peace were released.The ceremony, held in the Plaza de la Paz, was

attended by the towns mayor, Domingo Fernan-dez, and the education councillor, Belen Mar-tinez.

Fernandez said the event was an opportunityfor children to understand there is no place for vi-olence in the classroom.

THE children held a minutes silence

School peace daycelebrations

By Adele Land

RESIDENTS of Arboleas willfind it easier and more conve-nient to recycle rubbish andunwanted goods thanks to anew clean point (PuntoLimpio) recycling area.

The 400,000 project was80 per cent funded by the Eu-ropean cohesion fund of wastemanagement and has generat-ed employment in the town.

Residents can dispose of all

types of goods including liq-uid waste, oils, photographicmaterials, household goodsand garden waste.

There are special unloadingbays in each area.

Waste disposal made easy

SPREADING PEACE: A dozen doves were released.

Mojacarseen on canvasVISITORS to Mojacar Pueblowere treated to a display ofartwork depicting scenes fromaround the village.

A competition organised bythe Mojacar is Pueblo asso-ciation attracted a number ofartists from around the areaand some 25 pieces of art-work were on public display.

Jose Luis Cortes won thefirst prize with his aerial viewof Mojacar, with Ana Sanchezand Manuel Sanchez takingsecond and third place.

BASING their inventive tapason films shot in AlmeriaProvince, 40 bars and restau-rants participated in the thirdTapas de Pelicula festival.

The winner was declared asLa Tahon Vieja for the tapabased on A Fistful of Dollars,while Whatsabi Sushi & Tapaswon second with Game ofThrones tapas, and La Encimaa close third with Lawrence ofArabia.

The region is famous world-wide for its impressive desertshooting.

GASTRO-TOURISM could beon the agenda for the Almanzo-ra valley, thanks to a proposalby Junta de Andalucia regionalgovernments tourism delegate,Alfredo Valdivia.

Validivia held a meetingwith mayors and businessmenfrom the various towns and an

agreement was made to devel-op a gastronomy route in thearea.

The project will allow visi-tors to the area to taste and en-joy food products grown ormade in the Almanzora valleyand put the area on the map foralternative tourism.


RESIDENTS of Zurgenajoined together to raisemoney for a young boy suf-fering from Perthes disease.

Hundreds of peoplepacked out the local sportspavilion to watch a charityfootball match betweenZurgena and Murcian team,Jumilla and the event raised

more than 1,300.The funds raised will go

towards helping Dani, ayoung boy from the villagewho suffers from the raredisease. Perthes disease is acondition which affects thehip, when the blood supplyis cut temporarily and caus-es the bone cells to die.

Neighbours rallyto help youngboy in Zurgena

Film tapas in Almeria

Tasty tours agenda

FESTIVAL of food modelled on desert films is a huge hit

FISTFUL OF DOLLARS: The winner of the most inventive tapa.

By Adele Land

PHOTOBY

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MEMBERS of a community web-forum haveraised 500 through various activities throughoutthe year and will donate the money to a localcharitable group.

The Arboleas forum, founded by Gary Bastin,has more than 500 members and achieves morethan 300,000 page views per month.

The forum pages are maintained by volunteersand all monies raised go to charity.

Gary described the forum as an honest, open

platform for exchange of views, news andevents.

The funds raised will be handed to FACE(Fundraising in Arboleas, caring for everyone) atan upcoming event.

The forum celebrates its first anniversary this

month and members are set to enjoy a fun-packednight at Maloans bar on Saturday (February 6),with music and dancing from Dusty Boots andAtlantis. Both artists are performing free.

Mr Bastin will hand over the cheque to a repre-sentative from FACE.

VERA hosted the fourth edition of the beach rugby tournament. Atotal of 10 teams from across Spain took part in the event whichtook place on one of the towns beaches.

This years winners were CRC Madrid, with Granada Rugby andCosta Almeria in second and third place.

Sports councillor Pedro Garcia and youth councillor BelmonteCaparros attended on behalf of the town council along with repre-sentatives from event sponsors SAMA2005.


Community forum supports charity

Beach-rugby title

MONEY is raised by members from various activities held throughout the yearBy Adele Land

FANS of electronic music willbe able to enjoy three days ofrevelling as the third edition ofthe event is to return in August.

The three-day music festivalwill take place from August 11

at its regular venue in Villari-cos. Many artists are alreadyconfirmed including latest addi-tions, the UKs Jamie Jones,along with Dutch Claw fromHolland.

Dreambeach line-uphots up for August

By John Smith

DESPITE the doom and gloom be-ing spread through the stock mar-kets and the economies of oil pro-ducing nations due to the rapid fallin the wholesale price of oil, Royal

Dutch Shell is about to invest $49billion (45 billion) to take over oiland gas exploration company BGGroup.

This expenditure, which isgreater than the annual GDP of 107countries and equal to that of Slove-

nia, shows both the wealth of thiscompany as well as its commitmentto the production and sale of fossilfuels and natural gas.

Unlike rival BP, Shell has not hadto expend large amounts of moneyto clean up environmental spills.

SMOKERS: Number has reduced due to regulations.

LONDON - FTSE 100 DOW JONES NASDAQ-0.02% +2.47% +2.22%CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 1

IBEX 35 +0.87%

SPAINS second largest daily newspa-per El Mundo, which sells just over180,000 copies each day, is looking toreduce its staffing levels by about 20per cent. Owned by an Italian group, ithas been instructed to reduce wages by15 million over a three-year period.It appears the move to online reportinghas affected circulation, which hasshown a reduction of advertising in-come.

THE very last cigarette facto-ry in Spain, based in La Riojaand operated by Altadis, asubsidiary of Imperial Tobac-co which manufactured theFortuna brand, is to close bythe end of June, with its 471workers either retiring or be-ing made redundant.

As the number of smokers

in Spain reduces due to gov-ernment regulations onsmoking in public places, andwith an unprecedented num-ber of fraudulent cigarettesbeing made in unlicensedfactories in Spain and othercountries, it became impracti-cal to continue with theirmanufacture.

Cigarette factory to close

IMF forecastupgrades SPAIN is set to outpace theworlds leading advancedeconomies in 2016, accordingto the International MonetaryFund (IMF), as the agencyupgraded its outlook forSpanish GDP, predictinggrowth of 2.7 per cent in 2016and 2.3 per cent in 2017. Thisis still less than the recentlydowngraded forecast for theoverall world economy.

Trade profitREPSOL, the Spanish oilcompany, announced onJanuary 27 that its ac-counts for 2015 showed anincrease in trading profit of8 per cent over the previousyear at 1.85 billion. Tocounter this good news, ithas had to write down thevalue of its reserves by 2.9billion due to plummetingprices.

CRIPPLED engineering giant Abengoa hasproduced and submitted to its administra-tors a five-year plan projecting a reductionof the company debt by 3 billion, througha combination of selling assets and closing

non-viable areas of its business. By concentrating on core engineering and

construction business it hopes to renegotiateits 9 billion debt, to allow it to return toprofit and make the company viable again.

Abengoa submits a newplan and may survive

is the percentage of shareholders who voted in

favour of the board proposalto take over the BG Group.

Quote of the WeekBillions of euros are lost every year to tax avoidance. This isunacceptable and we are acting to tackle it. The EU tax

commissioner Pierre Moscovici on legal tax avoidance.

CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 1CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 1CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 1

83.08

El Mundo toreduce staff

ABOUT to take over oil and gas exploration company BG group

Shell to spend billions on expansion

BUSINESS EXTRA

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FINANCEbusiness & legal

31Costa de Almera EWN4 - 10 February 2016

A EURO WEEKLY NEWS 6 PAGE SPECIAL SECTION // WWW.EWNBUSINESS.COMSTAT OF WEEK 8.7 billion is said to be the amount that Chinese entrepreneur Wang Jianlin, owner of the EdificioEspaa in Madrid lost due to the January stock market slump in China.

MMM 3M 151.00 +3.68 +2.50% 4.0MAXP American Express 53.50 +0.62 +1.17% 14.0MAAPL Apple 97.34 +3.25 +3.45% 64.4MBA Boeing 120.13 +2.12 +1.80% 9.2MCAT Caterpillar 62.24 +1.16 +1.90% 8.2MCVX Chevron 86.47 +0.55 +0.64% 20.2MCSCO Cisco 23.79 +0.68 +2.96% 39.7MKO Coca-Cola 42.92 +0.35 +0.82% 20.5MDIS Disney 95.82 +2.29 +2.45% 8.2MDD E I du Pont de Nemours and Co 52.76 +0.75 +1.44% 6.3MXOM Exxon Mobil 77.85 +0.86 +1.12% 25.2MGE General Electric 29.10 +0.89 +3.15% 51.6MGS Goldman Sachs 161.56 +4.50 +2.87% 4.9MHD Home Depot 125.76 +3.48 +2.85% 7.6MIBM IBM 124.79 +2.57 +2.10% 8.2MINTC Intel 31.02 +1.05 +3.50% 38.3MJNJ Johnson & Johnson 104.44 +2.17 +2.12% 15.6MJPM JPMorgan Chase 59.50 +2.22 +3.88% 27.0MMCD McDonald's 123.78 +1.40 +1.14% 10.5MMRK Merck 50.67 +1.47 +2.99% 16.9MMSFT Microsoft 55.09 +3.04 +5.83% 83.6MNKE Nike 62.01 +0.81 +1.32% 10.5MPFE Pfizer 30.49 +0.29 +0.96% 56.7MPG Procter & Gamble 81.69 +1.87 +2.34% 19.9MTRV Travelers Companies Inc 107.04 +2.57 +2.46% 2.2MUTX United Technologies 87.69 +1.24 +1.43% 7.9MUNH UnitedHealth 115.16 +3.78 +3.39% 5.3MVZ Verizon 49.97 +0.96 +1.96% 29.1MV Visa 74.49 +5.16 +7.44% 40.4MWMT Wal-Mart 66.36 +2.14 +3.33% 16.4M

Kleinwort Benson Elite PCC Ltd

Johnson Matthey 2,469.00 4.00 0.16 4,900.61Kingfisher 329.50 3.40 1.04 7,448.47Land Securities Group 1,095.50 0.50 0.05 8,446.96Legal & General Group 242.40 -1.10 -0.45 13,938.35Lloyds Banking Group ORD 65.69 0.23 0.35 45,572.13London Stock Exchange Gr 2,460.00 -14.00 -0.57 8,345.15Merlin Entertainments 413.85 0.15 0.04 4,073.23Marks & Spencer Group 425.60 1.50 0.35 6,902.93Mondi 1,150.50 14.50 1.28 5,440.63National Grid 984.60 -1.20 -0.12 35,807.17Next 6,942.50 17.50 0.25 10,391.58Old Mutual 169.20 -0.50 -0.29 7,933.57Provident Financial 2,924.00 -14.00 -0.48 4,130.87Prudential 1,350.00 -17.50 -1.28 33,854.74Persimmon 2,032.00 -4.00 -0.20 6,006.69Pearson 797.50 8.50 1.08 6,355.18Reckitt Benckiser Group 6,211.50 -22.50 -0.36 43,576.80Royal Bank of Scotland Group 254.65 1.95 0.77 15,964.64Royal Dutch Shell 1,517.00 -1.00 -0.07 57,834.59Royal Dutch Shell 1,515.00 -6.00 -0.39 36,276.70RELX 1,224.50 -5.50 -0.45 13,293.81Rio Tinto 1,709.50 -4.50 -0.26 23,777.91Royal Mail 460.80 1.60 0.35 4,480.00Rolls-Royce Group 553.50 -1.50 -0.27 9,887.04Randgold Resources 5,005.00 38.00 0.77 4,453.93RSA Insurance Group 417.65 1.25 0.30 4,107.70SABMiller 4,178.25 -4.25 -0.10 67,508.15Sainsbury (J) 246.60 1.50 0.61 4,547.79Schroders 2,727.00 3.00 0.11 5,974.90Sage Group (The) 622.50 1.50 0.24 6,520.95Shire 3,895.00 -15.00 -0.38 22,506.43Sky 1,099.50 17.50 1.62 17,869.18Standard Life 363.90 0.40 0.11 6,963.04Smiths Group 941.50 -2.00 -0.21 3,614.19Smith & Nephew 1,156.00 -6.00 -0.52 10,111.10Sports Direct International 416.35 0.75 0.18 2,418.10SSE 1,450.50 0.50 0.03 14,071.75Standard Chartered 472.43 1.43 0.30 11,673.21St James's Place 948.00 -5.00 -0.52 4,771.33Severn Trent 2,219.00 30.00 1.37 5,049.75Travis Perkins 1,822.00 -3.00 -0.16 4,425.48Tesco 173.25 -0.15 -0.09 13,571.69TUI AG 1,194.50 8.50 0.72 6,904.32Taylor Wimpey 192.70 0.30 0.16 6,022.16Unilever 3,067.25 -17.75 -0.58 37,868.47United Utilities Group 969.50 13.00 1.36 6,351.79Vodafone Group 225.88 1.98 0.88 56,731.88Wolseley 3,452.50 -10.50 -0.30 8,692.40Worldpay Group Ord 3p Wi 310.85 -2.15 -0.69 6,083.00WPP Group 1,512.50 -4.50 -0.30 19,010.74Whitbread 4,019.00 19.00 0.48 7,115.09

Most AdvancedAvenue Financial Holdings, Inc. $ 19.24 5.53 40.34%Chiasma, Inc. $ 10.30 2.11 25.76%Coherent, Inc. $ 77.27 14.73 23.55%Mimecast Limited $ 7.5901 1.3901 22.42%Vanguard Natural Resources LLC $ 5.98 1.04 21.05%Hansen Medical, Inc. $ 2.15 0.34 18.78%Century Aluminum Company $ 4.72 0.74 18.59%Vanguard Natural Resources LLC $ 5.89 0.91 18.27%Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. $ 2.95 0.45 18%First Cash Financial Services, Inc. $ 35.50 5.28 17.47%Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ 6.68 0.90 15.57%Most DeclinedQuality Systems, Inc. $ 13.11 3.16 19.42%Unwired Planet, Inc. $ 9.28 1.48 13.75%ABAXIS, Inc. $ 43.55 6.88 13.64%Tuesday Morning Corp. $ 5.57 0.80 12.56%Independent Bank Group, Inc $ 29.91 3.16 9.56%region $ 8.45 0.75 8.15%Accuray Incorporated $ 5.33 0.47 8.10%Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. $ 56.15 4.92 8.06%Amazon.com, Inc. $ 587 48.35 7.61%Electronic Arts Inc. $ 64.545 5.245 7.52%Vanguard Natural Resources LLC $ 8.45 0.67 7.35%

CCOMPANYOMPANY PPRICERICE((PP)) CCHANGEHANGE((PP)) % C% CHGHG.. NNETET VVOLOL

DOW JONESCLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 1

Anglo American 282.95 5.50 1.98 3,820.42Associated British Foods 3,142.00 -8.00 -0.25 24,007.52Admiral Group 1,774.00 0.00 0.00 4,845.32Aberdeen Asset Management 245.15 -1.35 -0.55 3,137.47Ashtead Group 900.00 1.00 0.11 4,481.02Antofagasta 382.35 2.15 0.57 3,725.55ARM Holdings 1,005.50 12.50 1.26 13,442.60Aviva 479.65 -1.15 -0.24 18,721.70AstraZeneca 4,436.50 -51.00 -1.14 54,441.47BAE Systems 514.00 -2.00 -0.39 15,946.56Babcock International Group 915.25 0.25 0.03 4,579.37Barclays 188.45 2.45 1.32 29,663.75British American Tobacco 3,864.00 -33.00 -0.85 70,145.53Barratt Developments 603.50 4.00 0.67 5,766.16BG Group 1,053.50 -1.00 -0.09 35,562.36Berkeley Group Holdings 3,551.50 16.50 0.47 4,754.99British Land Co 741.75 1.75 0.24 7,366.78BHP Billiton 681.45 5.05 0.75 14,147.71Bunzl 1,876.50 8.50 0.46 5,997.88BP 373.28 -2.82 -0.75 66,684.81Burberry Group 1,195.50 0.50 0.04 5,204.55BT Group 497.18 12.33 2.54 38,665.60Coca-Cola HBC 1,451.50 22.50 1.57 5,057.78Carnival 3,495.00 15.00 0.43 7,221.68Centrica 205.85 1.05 0.51 9,939.12Compass Group 1,199.50 -3.50 -0.29 19,335.78Capita Group (The) 1,176.50 1.50 0.13 7,544.12CRH 1,857.00 3.00 0.16 14,664.31Dixons Carphone 475.75 2.05 0.43 5,347.96DCC 5,395.00 -10.00 -0.19 4,629.25Diageo 1,892.00 7.50 0.40 45,952.34Direct Line Insurance Group 375.90 1.30 0.35 5,522.25Experian 1,188.50 -1.50 -0.13 11,337.25easyJet 1,572.00 24.00 1.55 6,063.38Fresnillo 729.00 7.00 0.97 5,198.78GKN 280.10 1.30 0.47 4,556.05Glencore 90.43 0.95 1.06 13,028.39GlaxoSmithKline 1,435.75 -3.25 -0.23 67,922.53Hikma Pharmaceuticals 2,024.00 6.00 0.30 3,865.23Hargreaves Lansdown 1,360.50 -2.50 -0.18 6,178.00Hammerson 585.75 2.25 0.39 4,456.85HSBC Holdings 489.95 -2.35 -0.48 92,908.27International Consolidated Air 545.25 5.75 1.07 10,640.23InterContinental Hotels Group 2,330.00 33.00 1.44 5,333.893i Group 441.85 -0.15 -0.03 4,209.79Imperial Tobacco Group 3,742.00 -44.00 -1.16 34,728.04Intu Properties 298.45 -0.55 -0.18 3,805.29Inmarsat 1,104.50 4.50 0.41 4,698.06Intertek Group 2,820.00 -10.00 -0.35 4,498.77ITV 266.70 -0.10 -0.04 10,415.75

CCOMPANYOMPANY PPRICERICE((PP)) CCHANGEHANGE((PP)) % C% CHGHG.. NNETET VVOLOL

COMPANY PRICE CHANGE NET / %

US dollar..................................................................1.08504Japan yen .................................................................131,534Switzerland franc ..................................................1.10774Denmark kroner...................................................7.46238Norway kroner ......................................................9.41249

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currenciesdirect.com/mojacar Tel: +34 950 478 914

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de AlmeriaEWN32 www.euroweeklynews.com

EWN34 FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

ROBINSONMURPHY have a dedi-cated team of Family Lawyers as-sisting their expat clients living inSpain, with regards to family anddivorce matters.

Even if you have lived in Spainfor many years it is still possible touse the English courts if you retainyour domicile in England.

Domicile is in essence the coun-try to which you consider yourselfmost connected, and does not haveto be the country of birth (thoughthis is often the case with expats liv-ing abroad), or where you currentlylive.

RobinsonMurphy help theirclients use the English courts as theSpanish system can be slow, frus-trating, costly and not in their lan-guage, making it difficult to under-stand the advice given to enablethem to make informed decisions.

The advantage of English courtsis that they can adjust the terms oflegal ownership of a property, irre-spective of who bought it. Whereasthe Spanish courts approach is if

there is no express agreement be-tween the parties, and no children,the home will be retained by the

original owner. This may be themost valuable asset.

The Spanish courts approach to

children is also different. If one par-ent has custody of a child they willremain in the property while an

English court may order it to besold, to allow both parties to proper-ly adjust and provide adequatehousing for their needs.

English courts take a sensible andpragmatic approach with childarrangements and adopt a no orderprinciple, ie they trust the parents tomake appropriate arrangements forthe welfare of the child or children.

In Spain a custody order is in-evitably always made, even if theparties have reached an agreement.

Decisions have to be made as towhere the children will live andhow often the absent parent hascontact, and also decisions on issuessuch as your childrens health andeducation.

The English courts allow you tomake a decision as long as it is inthe childrens best interests, whereasthe Spanish courts may impose theirwill.

To contact RobinsonMurphySolicitors call 900 801 020 or youcan send an email to [email protected].

4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.com

By John Smith

THE problems with troubledBankia just continue, with thelatest blow to its reputationbeing a Supreme Court ruling,which rejected its appealagainst two cases which hadbeen heard in Valencia andOviedo.

Disgruntled shareholders de-manded their money back be-cause of serious inaccuraciesin the banks share prospectus.

This decision cannot havecome as too great a shock tothe bank, as it had already set1.84 billion aside in its ac-counts to cover possibleclaims from individual share-holders, but it will have comeas a blow due to the fact thatthese funds are now likely tobe needed to meet repaymentclaims.

What may worry the bankeven more is the fact that thedoors are now open for corpo-

rate investors to look to claimsimilar refunds for their share-holders, which would almostdouble the amount that thebank, which has already re-ceived 20 billion of taxpayerand EU support, will have to al-locate in reserves.

Its a vicious circle, as themore the bank has to pay outin compensation for sellingshares which were hyped up,the lower its share price willbecome on the four markets in

which they trade.Previous directors of the

bank are said to have treated itas their own personal piggybank, using credit cards andtaking money as if they wereplaying monopoly.

Former government ministerand chairman of the bank Ro-drigo Rato had his passportconfiscated whilst awaiting tri-al, in respect of his activitieswhen with the bank, althoughhe denies any wrongdoing.

The problems continue for Bankia

BANKIA: Disgruntled shareholders have demanded their money back because of serious inaccuracies in the banks prospectus.

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English court or Spanish court?Advertising feature

ROBINSONMURPHY: Help their clients to use the English courts.

35FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL EWN4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almerawww.euroweeklynews.com

AFTER the US increased interest rates, monetarypolicy between the US and the Eurozonecontinues to widen and drift apart. On the onehand we have the European Central Bankcontinuing with their quantitative easingprogramme, and on the other the Bank ofEngland issued a statement reaffirming thatinterest rates are unlikely to rise in the near future.

Meanwhile, economic data released from theUK revealed a slowdown in industrial andmanufacturing production for the month ofDecember and January. The pound slid rapidlyclose to 5 per cent against the euro, exacerbatedby a postponement of an interest rate hike as wellas fears mounting over the Brexit outcome in thereferendum (most likely to be held in June).

As inflation has struggled to get anywhereclose to the Bank of Englands 2 per cent target,due to falling oil and commodity prices puttingCentral Banks in a conundrum on monetarypolicy planning, it is looking increasingly likely

that the Monetary Policy Committee will refrainfrom raising interest rates in the first half of 2016.

Meanwhile, with 2016 starting with globalgrowth concerns amidst a stock market routacross world markets, the UK economy willcontinue to lean on consumer spending to lookforward to better data prints.

From the Eurozone, we have had a bit of asubdued month as far as economic data prints go.However, the main event for the month was themuch anticipated Central Bank statement onmonetary policy. In his speech Mario Draghi,President of the European Central Bank,launched a staunch defence of the central banks

accommodative monetary easing policy tocounter criticism of the policy.

In fact, he went a step further and said that thecentral bank is prepared to cut rates, and alsoreview and reconsider further quantitativeeasing as a premature increase in interest ratescould bring about yet another recession.

In a fairly interesting month to kick off 2016,we have witnessed a global stock marketcorrection, falling commodity prices as well as aslide in the pound. However, after such a rapidand drastic fall it looks like sterling has bottomedout and could nip up slightly from current levels,though unlikely to achieve last years soaringheights for the first half of the year. From Europe,the silver lining continues to be the CentralBanks accommodative monetary policy, as itmeanders towards growth and seems to beworking.

As we move forward in the year, currencymovements are likely to be driven by CentralBanks and their monetary policy stances, withthe major risk event being the referendum onBritain leaving the European Union, which willdetermine the shift/stability in market sentimentand whatever the outcome is.

Either way, it is likely to be a cautious, yeteventful first half of 2016!

An eventful month for currency trading

THE POUND: Slid rapidly close to 5 per cent against the euro in January.

Visit us at our Spanish offices in Costa del Sol, Costa Almeria, North Costa Blanca and South Costa Blanca. Telephone: UK +44 (0) 207 847 9400 SPAIN +34 950 478 914 Email: [email protected] www.currenciesdirect.com

Ask theexpertPeter Loveday

Contact me at [email protected]

TO tell you the truth, Ive just about had thisentire refugee, migrant, Arab Spring businessup to the eyeballs.

Dont you just long for those wonderfuldays when we were all enjoying the peace andhappiness so many of our forefathers gave lifeand limb for? Days when Jihad, Burkas andaffairs of the Middle East were far far away, inlands that had no more impact on our daily ex-istence than a few snowflakes on a summersday.

Wouldnt it be paradise, just to awaken andrealise it was simply all a nightmare? Well Imafraid those days of peace and happiness arewell and truly over. The influx of migrants hasnow reached ridiculous proportions, and stillthe do gooders try to make those who seek todiscourage this onslaught feel bad and unfeel-ing.

To be honest I cant really blame some of

them. Not when the media (especially theBBC) continually put the tales of tragedy andhuman trauma to the forefront of their reports.

Why dont they give more air time to the ri-

oting in Germany, with large mobs of men ofAsian appearance attacking police with anymissile they can lay their hands on? (Wait tillsomeone starts handing out the Kalashnikovs!)

The wrecked migrant trains, covered in graf-fiti with their smashed windows, destroyed fur-nishings and toilets literally overflowing withexcreta. The young, able-bodied men of Asianappearance, disdainfully throwing donatedfood back into the bewildered faces of kindlysouls, because it was considered unclean.

The men of Arab and North African ap-pearance, marauding through supermarketshurtling insults and lifting the skirts of femaleshoppers. In heavens name, how do the au-thorities think its all going to end?

Im not trying to stir up hatred, Im trying tobring some common sense into the equation.Sooner or later, the most volatile of the localpopulace will take matters into their ownhands, more out of frustration than hatred.

We can then prepare ourselves for theBlood Rivers Enoch Powell tried so hard towarn us against. Are we listening now?!

The innocent children are of course an ex-ception. I believe we should endeavour to saveas many of them as we possibly can.

Keep the faithLove Leapy

[email protected].

Ive had this up to the eyeballs

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT

OTHERS THINK IT

DONT you just long for the days when we were all enjoying peace and happiness?

MIGRANTS: The influx has reached ridiculous proportions.

OPINION & COMMENT EWN4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almera 37www.euroweeklynews.com

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PROPERTIES occasionally come tothe market that are presented andfurnished to a level that is simplyabove and beyond that of their mar-ket competitors; this is without doubtone of those properties.

With well proportioned internaland generous external living space,the house, with 10 x 4m privateswimming pool has a very relaxingfeel about it and in which, summerand winter living can be enjoyedutilising the areas accordingly.

The ground floor of the propertycomprises an open plan lounge dinerwith doors and staircase giving ac-cess to the various parts of the house.

To the rear of the living room thereare glass doors leading to the 28mcovered terrace, open terraces andswimming pool whilst adjacent to thedining area there is a fully fittedkitchen with gas hob, eye level elec-tric oven and microwave, extensivestorage space and worktops includinga breakfast bar, and a separate utilityarea for the washing machine, tumbledryer and fridge-freezers.

Accessed via a separate hallwayoff the living room there are twodouble bedrooms; a family bathroomwith bath and shower over, toilet,bidet and basin and also a separateguest wc with basin.

On the first floor there is a landingarea from which to the left you findthe large master bedroom and en

suite bathroom with shower, toilet,bidet and twin basins; and to theright the 42m solarium.

Externally, there is a covered ter-race area with views of the garden,swimming pool and backdrop of theCabrera Mountains. Retractable sunawnings are fitted to two sides togive shade from the sun as required.

A second designated area to therear of the property is the outsidedining area with potential to create afly screen enclosure room.

Finally to the rear there is theswimming pool with Roman stepsand terraced surround ideal for sunloungers and with safety in mind it isfenced dividing it from the other gar-

den areas.To the front of

the property there is a per-gola covered car port; storagecupboard; and mature Mediterraneanstyle gardens that wrap around thesides of the house.

The property benefits reversibleair conditioning throughout (hot andcold); mosquito screens and shuttersto all windows; built in wardrobes inall bedrooms; mains gas for hot wa-ter and cooking; is very well main-tained and furniture is available sub-ject to negotiation.

Los Gallardos has a variety of barsand restaurants, two small supermar-kets and a weekly street market, isclose to the A7 providing easy ac-cess to Almeria, Murcia and Alicanteairports and has plenty to offer near-by including golf courses and beach-es. There are plentiful walking,bowls and craft clubs in the area.

For more information on this andother properties please seewww.nextstopalmeria.com or call:950 617 518.

3 bedroom house - Los Gallardos Advertising feature Property of

the weekBrought to you by Next Stop Almeria

PRIVATE POOL: Has a very relaxing feel about it with plenty of room for sun loungers.

WHEN I was growing up in Eng-land in the 50s and 60s, there werea number of constant smells whichI can still clearly remember, coaland wood burning, escaping coalgas from gas holders, the smell ofyeast and hops from breweries, waxfrom the candle factory and some-thing I was too young to put a nameto from the Gordons gin distillery.

The worst smell however wasfrom the sewage works and if thewind was in the wrong direction, itwas s t rong enough to not onlymake you gag, but it seemed to in-sinuate itself into your nostrils andfollow you around.

Now the UK has literally cleanedup its act and most of these smellsare long gone, even though thememory still lingers.

In Spain however, this isnt thecase and although I dont object to

the smell of wood, which manyhouses do still burn as soon as itbecomes a little chilly, what I justdont understand is why, in todaystechnological age, sewage plantsstill have to smell so bad.

In my perambulat ions, whichregularly take me from Malaga to

Gibraltar, I pass three areas whichalways stink, although some daysare worse than others.

The first is by the Rio Fuengirolawhere there is a permanent and un-pleasant smell of sewage. The sec-ond is by Elvir ia , and there thesmell permeates around at least

four square ki lometres , and thethird is at the entrance to La Linea,which on a bad day is absolutelyputrid.

In 2010 in response to an EU di-rective concerning the treatment ofsewage, the Junta de Andalucia re-gional government announced 47projects that were necessary in or-der to complete the Costa del Sols

sewage treatment plan. These required an investment of

some 390 million and needed tobe completed by January 1, 2016.Although a great deal of progresshas been made in order to stop thepumping of raw sewage directly in-to the sea, there still seems to be along way to go before the wholesystem actually allows localresidents to enjoy a peacefullife, without having to smellthe results of others actions!

IN response to the recentstrike by junior doctors inthe UK, a plethora of post-ings have appeared onFacebook in support of theNational Health Service.

One of those post ingspleaded: Lets stand up forthe best health service inthe world.

Of course it is vital thatwe save the NHS, buttelling ourselves that it isstill the best in the world,is frankly delusional andwe must recognise that it isnot acceptable in i ts pre-sent state of decline.

Here in Spain our localNHS hospital in Torrevie-ja provides en suite roomsfor each patient, cleanersare in evidence 24/7 andthe place is spotless.

Convertible sofas are ineach room with familymembers encouraged tostay overnight if they wish.

In addition, patient ap-pointments with consultantsare made at point of contact

with GPs, and it is not un-common for them to beseen the following week.

Many people are in de-nial and bel ieve thatBri ta in is s t i l l the worldleader in qual i ty f ree

healthcare, and whilst it istrue that many have causeto be grateful for the treat-ment received, there are fartoo many who have differ-ent stories to tell.

My father-in-law was ad-

mitted for a relatively mi-nor condi t ion and s ixweeks later died from a vir-ulent bug that he contractedwhilst there.

The condi t ion of thewards was disgusting andthe attitude of some of thestaff unbelievable. To de-scribe some areas of thathospi ta l as Third Worldwould not be an overstate-ment.

This is the downside ofan organisat ion that haslost its way, and we mustimpress on our politiciansthat horror stories like thatof my wifes Dad (andthere are many of them),are not acceptable , andfresh, drastic thinking mustbe applied to rectify mat-ters and s t r ive to onceagain make it the envy ofthe world.

When reports l ike thisare tucked away on the in-side pages of UK newspa-pers, and are no longer re-markable, then this surelytells its own story.

Colin BirdA weekly look

A case for drastic surgery

Each week, Colin brings his slightly off-the-wall view of the world to the pages of EWNin his own irreverent style.

TELLING ourselves that the NHS is the best in the world is frankly delusional

One smell we could all do withoutIN some places in Spain there is a permanent and unpleasant smell of sewage

LOCAL HOSPITAL: Provides en suite rooms for each patient.

OPINION & COMMENTEWN38

THE phenomenal growthin electronic media hasbrought some real benefitsto people around the world,allowing them to be in easycontact with friends andfamily and to be updated onworld events, celebrity gos-sip, trends and indeed any-thing and everything thatone can think of.

Whilst older people strug-gle to keep up with ad-vances such as tweeting,Tinder, Instagram and manyother new developments,younger people take to themlike a fish to water, and itis quite amazing to see real-ly young children manipu-lating iPads and othertablets as if they were bornwith the ability.

Whilst this is all well andgood, there is quite a down-side as many parents andgrandparents will have ob-served.

Children are becoming farmore occupied with theirgames and tablets and lessinterested in either talking toeach other or their parents,and are far less polite andindeed in many cases seem-ingly less educated as theyare so used to text talk.

It used to be suggestedthat despite the negatives,the TV was a great babysit-ter, but now it has becomethe tablet or iPad.

How many times haveyou visited a restaurant tosee children completelyoblivious to all around thembecause they are engrossedin a game? This doesnt ex-cuse teenagers and adultswho spend half of their timechecking or sending mes-sages and taking pho-tographs of their food.

www.euroweeklynews.com

YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION

Now we want to

hear your views.

Mannersmaketh man!

OUR VIEW

www.euroweeklynews.com4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almera

Keky

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SEWAGE PLANTS: Why do they still have to smell so bad?

John SmithRandomthoughts...

CHILDREN: Born with ability.

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Although a great dealof progress has been

made in order to stopthe pumping of raw

sewage directly into the sea,there is still a long way to go.

MEN be warned. Grabbingflowers from the local grocersas you stumble towards yourdate is not the way to awomans heart.

Its even worse than nothing asnobody enjoys being consideredas an afterthought.

We can confidently say that thewoman in your life wouldnt mind alittle more romance, so here are a fewideas that may make you a romantichero on February 14 with all the re-wards that brings.

Remember that the exciting trem-bles of a blossoming new relation-

ship were the most romantic timesof your life. So dont let that

linger as a memory, bring it to the pre-sent, recreate the spark. Romance is astate of mind, so dont behave like acocky success story, be the prince try-ing to win her hand, you were thathero once upon a time.

Long romantic strolls arm in arm, aspontaneous trip to a reclusive hotel, achange of surroundings, an air of ad-venture, place yourselves whereveryoull feel moments embraced by theonly two people on earth.

By divulging yourselves of all thehumdrum practicalities of daily living,whether doing the shopping or wash-ing the dishes, you can both be aloneand relish in one anothers exclusivecompany.

Dont forget the classics, even ifyoure not a Valentine Casanova bynature, you know what works. Choco-late is a must, with a top quality brandcloaked in seductive wrapping sure tomake a statement. Be sure not to scoffthem all yourself, and lay off quaffingthat expensive wine too. The night isabout a different kind of pleasure.

Follow the time-honoured traditionof taking your flame out for a specialmeal. This isnt about showing off, itssimply a chance for you both to spruceup nicely and do things the properway. Shine those shoes, make a reser-vation even if its not necessary, hire ataxi and make it an event, pull out allthe stops.

EWNCosta de Almera 434 - 10 February 2016

Special

Want to be the perfect Valentine?

Pages

EWN44 4 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.com

St Valentines Day:

Behind the loved-up day lies a richand, sometimes, romantic history.

Originally established as a Romanfertility festival called Lupercalia,celebrations began with the sacrificeof two male goats and a dog whichwere then flayed to make costumesfor locals to run around in, to imitatethe wolf-god Lupercus.

Girls and young women queuedup to be whipped with thongs of ani-mal skin, and this bizarre ritualpromised to ensure fertility, preventsterility and ease childbirth.

The Lupercalia celebration waslater outlawed and renamed StValentines Day at the end of the 5thcentury, by Pope Gelasius.

Although the date wasnt celebrat-ed as a day of romance until the14th century, after its rebrand it wasalways associated with St Valentine,who, according to some sources, wasa martyred priest beheaded by em-peror Claudius II for helping couplesmarry.

By the Middle Ages, Valentine wasone of the most popular saints inEngland and France, with severalhistorians attributing his stratos-pheric ascent to a poem by Britishwriter Geoffrey Chaucer, called TheParliament of Fowls.

In the poem, a raucous philosophi-cal debate between a group of birdsresults in Mother Nature encourag-

ing them to choose their appropriatemates. The poem is believed to con-tain the first reference to St Valen-tines Day as a day to celebrate love.

The oldest known Valentines Daytoken was a poem by Charles, Dukeof Orleans, in 1415. Sent to his wifewhile he was imprisoned in the Tow-er of London after being captured inthe Battle of Agincourt, the greetingsurvives in the British Librarysmanuscript collection.

Several years after the Duke ofOrleans penned his love poem, ten-der-hearted King Henry V commis-sioned a writer to compose a Valen-tines note to wife Catherine ofValois.

SO why do we celebrate romantic relationships on February 14?

The Origin

454 - 10 February 2016 / Costa de Almerawww.euroweeklynews.com EWN

ACCORDING to legend and folk-lore, women can propose marriageto their partners in a leap year,which gifts February 29 to theGregorian calendar every fouryears, as it will in 2016.

Some historians argue the leapyear rules on romance originatedin 15th century Scotland when theunmarried Queen Margaret estab-lished the somewhat forward-thinking concept that womencould be the maker ofmarriage proposals, aslong as the manwasnt alreadyengaged.

The wonderfullegislation is said to have also in-cluded the proviso that those in-tending to propose must wear a redpetticoat under their skirt.

Another myth has it that longbefore Queen Margarets stance ongender equality came to light, thefifth-century nun St Brigid of Kil-dare, appealed to St Patrick, patronsaint of Ireland, to permit propos-als by women after hearing fromfemale singletons whose suitorswere too bashful to do the job.

Hundreds of years later and sur-prising statistics show that only 5per cent of American women havetaken this less-than-conventionalroute to finding a life partner.

Love in a leap yearLADIES keep a ring at the ready in case you want to proposeBy Kylie J Brennan

LEAP YEAR: Women can propose.

04FEBRUARY

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7:00pm BBC News at Six7:30pm BBC London News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm EastEnders9:00pm Dickensian9:30pm Room 10110:00pm Death in Paradise11:00pm BBC News at Ten11:30pm BBC London News11:45pm Question Time12:45am This Week

Documents

Euro Weekly News - Costa de Almeria 4 - 10 February 2016 Issue 1596